Suffering and the Gospel, Part 4
If suffering is ultimately a display of the reality of sin, then it’s no coincidence that Jesus had to die the way He did. Jesus did not pay for sin by dying alone in a quiet way. Sin had to be atoned for through suffering.
“From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Matt 16:21).
“And he said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer’” (Luke 22:15).
The gospels tell us what that suffering entailed physically: spitting, slapping, punching, beating, whipping, a crown of sharp thorns, a heavy cross, nails through the hands and feet, and slow, agonizing suffocation. “His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind” (Isaiah 52:14). There’s a reason that the word we use for extreme pain is “excruciating,” which comes from the word for cross.
He also suffered the emotional pain of abandonment by his closest companions, being slandered and lied about, being rejected by His own people, and the shame of being hung up naked in front of a crowd who had gathered to mock him while He died.
And beyond this was the spiritual torment of bearing the curse that our sins deserved. The dark sky, the shaking ground, the cry of “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” all speak to the reality of the divine judgement that Christ bore in the place of His people. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13).
And we can’t miss that Christ did not just suffer—He suffered publicly. On the cross, He was lifted up from the earth so that people might look at him (John 3:14). And as we look we see a man pierced for our transgressions. Crushed for our iniquities. If suffering is a reflection of the seriousness of sin, then Christ’s gruesome suffering for our sins makes it crystal clear just how atrocious those sins actually are.
But, praise God, that’s not the only thing the cross tells us. Because Jesus did suffer for our sins, the public suffering of the cross also makes it unmistakable that our atrocious sins have been paid for. The punishment He bore brought us peace, and each of His wounds was for our healing. Our sin was laid upon Christ, and He was condemned and judged as our substitute. He drank the cup of the Father’s wrath in our place. He satisfied divine justice on our behalf. The bloody spectacle of the cross not only tells us how serious our sins are, but also that those literally deadly sins have been forgiven.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21) “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.” (1 Pe. 3:18) “There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1)
No condemnation. The storm is over. The axe has fallen. The debt is paid. The law has been satisfied. Justice is fulfilled. Satan’s grounds of accusation are taken away. “He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26).
The cross is at the centre of history, and there are countless implications of Christ’s accomplishment upon it. For the purposes of this series, we want to ask an important question: if suffering is a display of sin, and our sin has been put away by Christ, does that mean that those who trust in Christ don’t need to suffer any more? On this side of Calvary, can we forget about pain and get on with living their best lives now? That’s the question we’ll consider in the next instalment.
